Getting Started in NW Indiana

[HomeBru]

Howdy!

I'm a High School Biology teacher, small farm owner and father of five. My oldest son has been looking for a project to take on to make a little extra money, (his younger sister started growing flowers for sale and he's getting jealous of her $$$) so we're looking at beekeeping. I've noticed a significant decrease in pollinators over the last five years so it's also a plan to increase our vegetable harvest as well.

If there are any NW Indiana beekeepers around that wouldn't mind mentoring a pair of newbies let use know!!

J Drew

[indypartridge]

Hello and Welcome!

This is a great forum for learning more about bees and beekeeping.

If there are any NW Indiana beekeepers around that wouldn't mind mentoring a pair of newbies let use know!

There are a number of beeks in your area on this forum. The first that comes to mind is NWIN Beekeeper who posts fairly regularly.

Besides learning from this forum (and don't forget the tutorials on the main Beemaster page), I also recommend getting involved with a local beekeeping club. Clubs often offer beginning beekeeping classes, and they are great places to find mentors and get connected with other nearby beekeepers.
There are a couple of local clubs up your way:
Northwest Indiana Beekeepers
http://www.lakenetnwi.net/member/beekeepers/
Lake Shores Beekeepers (Burns Harbor)
contact: Bob at beelouse@comcast.net

Also the Indiana State Beekeepers Assoc will be having it's fall meeting and beginning beekeeping school on Oct 18 in Indianapolis. The website, www.hoosierbuzz, should be updated soon with further details (I just got an advance email yesterday).

[Cindi]

J Drew.  Welcome to our forum.  A Father of five children, that is a thing of beauty, children make this world go 'round.  This is wonderful that you want to come into the world of beekeeping.  This could be a wonderful project, and bring you and your children together to do things with the bees.  Learn all you can, teach the children, get ready to order your bees, and enjoy your time spent with us.  Here you can learn so much, and you can also learn lots other ways too.  This is wonderful and beautiful.  Have a great and awesome day, Cindi